monorail nvelocity property accessor

... the monorail nvelocity syntax for getting at a indexed property (like a dictionary/hash object) with a variable key is:

$dict.get_item($key)

I had immediately changed my $dict.Item($key) into $dict.getItem($key) when the first didn't work; thinking in terms of Velocity. But no dice.

The solution is right there in the monorail faq sheet, but I must have been searching with blinders on this afternoon, because for the life of me I couldn't find it or remember the syntax.